


Coffee Drip

by Anna_banana



Category: Formula E RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Ant has a crush, Coffee Shops, Fluff, M/M, Robin is a mess, Sam and JEV 'help', Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21645655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_banana/pseuds/Anna_banana
Summary: Robin always makes the wrong drink for Antonio- he keeps coming back anyway.
Relationships: André Lotterer & Jean-Eric Vergne (mentioned), António Félix da Costa/Robin Frijns
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Motorsport Secret Santa 2019





	Coffee Drip

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RobinJuncadella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinJuncadella/gifts).



> To RobinJuncadella: I am so excited that I got you for the secret Santa and I really hope I did your favourites justice! ily <3
> 
> To anyone else reading: I hope you enjoy!

Working at a coffee shop every day is much the same. Wake up at an ungodly hour, get ready, sprint for the bus with breakfast in hand, try not to fall asleep for too long on the bus and end up at the wrong stop- and that’s before Robin even begins his job. 

That being said, there are lots of things that Robin loves about working as a barista. Doing the art on top of the drinks is fun, he gets to have a nap when the cafe isn’t busy. Plus he really likes his coworkers Sam and Jev (who was apparently nicknamed that because Sam couldn’t fit the name Jean-Eric on a badge and still have the letters be readable. So all in all, while most days are pretty much the same, there is at least interesting customers and sometimes challenging drinks to keep Robin more than busy enough, despite the fact that Robin is so practised at his job he’s pretty sure he could make a Latte Macchiato in his sleep.

Today, just like every other day that ends in a ‘y’, Robin rushes into the cafe with only a minute to spare, fails to catch the apron that Sam throws at his head, jumps over the counter and begins to make up the orders that JEV yells out to him.

…

Antonio doesn’t really know a lot about coffee. Whether he goes to a self run little cafe or a big corporate chain it makes no difference and as long as when he orders something with caffeine it’s the strongest possible thing they have, he doesn’t really care about whatever the fancy name is for it. All Antonio needs to know is that coffee is a vital part of survival that sits on the level as eating or going to the bathroom and quite possibly a little bit higher than sleep itself.

After having recently moved apartment, it’s Antonio’s number one priority to find out where the nearest coffee place is so he can go there on his way to work. After figuring out a new morning jog route that circles around the park near his flat, on his way back Antonio notices a cafe that must only be a couple minutes walk away from his place. Gauging the distance between his flat and the coffee shop he already prefers his new apartment, after all it used to take him a full five minutes to get to the closest Starbucks! Having a peek inside, Antonio also notices that it seems to be just a little bit quieter than Starbucks would be at this time of day, the only possible advantage when comparing an individual shop to a more well known brand. Grinning to himself, Antonio decides to make his way in and maybe get a smoothie or something for a change, after all he deserves a treat after his run.  
...

During the busier hours at work, Robin never even notices the bell at the front door ringing to indicate it’s open. While working he barely pays attention to anything in the coffee shop, only noticing the mid morning lull has begun when his hands finally stop moving around the machines. 

The next order Sam calls out is slightly muffled, the Brit still clearly facing the customer while calling it out. Rolling his eyes, Robin has to turn around to ask Sam to repeat himself, but as soon as he faces the till, he stops in his tracks. The guy Sam is serving is absolutely gorgeous, tanned with dark brown hair and eyes that would make him start thinking of ridiculous coffee based metaphors if he could think straight. Robin can’t help but trail his eyes further down and tries not to open his mouth in shock when he looks at the tight sportswear the man is wearing. 

Luckily after a few seconds of him standing staring like an idiot, Sam turns around to face him, quirking his eyebrow.

“What was the drink?” he manages to stammer out, only just remembering what he was aiming to ask in the first place.

“Mango and passion fruit smoothie.”

Sam’s reply comes just as the guy looks up from entering his pin into the card machine. Blushing, Robin spins quickly on his heel and goes back to making drinks, resolutely keeping his eyes on the blender. It’s not until he hands the drink over to Sam and the guy walks away that Robin realises that he made a red berry smoothie instead. When he tries to ask JEV if he saw anyone complain about having the wrong drink he is given a weird look as the Frenchman shakes his head. 

When Antonio left the shop, he realises he got super distracted by staring at the backside of the guy making the drinks. So much so that he barely even noticed that a lone smoothie was being called out. Sheepishly, he grabbed the drink quickly before rushing out the store. It wasn’t until he was outside that he took a sip of the drink, the too sweet taste bringing him out of his day dreaming stupor. It’s only at that point, Antonio actually looks down and pays attention to his drink- the bright pink-red colour giving away the fact it is actually some sort of berry flavoured drink. Rather than going back to the coffee shop and looking like an idiot, Antonio decides to just offer the drink to his flatmate Alexander when he gets in. When Alex asks where his own drink is, Antonio just makes something up about him already finishing it on the way back.

…  
Often when the doorbell rings in the middle of the day it ends up startling Robin awake. Hearing the telltale noise somewhere in his subconscious he often bolts upright, sometimes when he’s really unlucky, it results in him falling from the booth he lies in onto the floor. Today is one of those unpleasant days that results in a customer walking in and being greeted by a loud thud and Sam’s hysterical laughter.

“Are you alright?” this customer decides to ask with a deep, accented voice. 

As Robin is about to answer he turns around, as he does he sees the really attractive guy, the one he made the wrong drink, and ends up mumbling something incomprehensible rather than answering. Taking pity on him, JEV starts saying something about how Robin is clumsy and does it all the time, while Sam finally decides to take the order. Robin listens in as he puts his apron back on and heads behind the counter, ready to make the drink as soon as he gets there. When the man mentions something about getting a takeaway order of two drinks to take home with him, Robin has to turn around to hide the crestfallen look on his face. While JEV makes up the food, Robin makes the drinks in record time, desperate to go back to his booth; this time to brood about the fact that this stranger is taken. 

It is complete chance that while Alexander’s cappuccino is absolutely fine, for some reason Antonio’s flat white has clearly been made as something else that’s just far too milky and weak for his tastes. Considering the guy probably hit his head when Antonio opened the door, he can’t really blame him for making a mistake, especially if he was still tired. Deciding to be a bit cheeky, he sips the cappucino and resolves to pretend to Alex that his must have just been made wrong. While he should maybe just accept his own incorrect drink, this seems easier than explaining to his flatmate that there’s a super cute barista that he’s realised he just can’t get mad at.

Already, Antonio knows for a fact that he’s going to go back. After all, no matter how hot the guy’s bum is when he’s making drinks, Ant should really make sure that he gets a glance at the name tag next time.

…  
The next time Antonio offers to leave the apartment to get them coffee, Alex decides to come with, suspicious that Ant had ordered the wrong drink for him last time. It only takes a couple minutes to walk there, especially with Antonio practically bouncing along, eager to find out the name of the cute barista. Alexander makes a joke about him being a coffee addict and Ant laughs along, not yet willing to admit the real reason he is so eager to go back. When they walked in, Antonio scans the room and his face falls when he only sees the other two men that normally work in the shop. Alex seems to recognise one of the guys however, something about him working with the guys partner Andre? As they get held up in conversation, Ant mostly just tries his best not to look disappointed or ask any embarrassingly eager questions about where the other barista is and when he’ll be back. Just as the conversation tails to an end and they are about to order, the door to the back area swings open and the third man walks through. Barely even glancing at his face, Antonio makes sure to hone in on the name tag ‘Robin, Robin, Robin,’ he repeats internally, only snapping out of it when Alexander nudges him in the side, prompting him to order.

“Just a hot chocolate,” he asks, simply saying the first thing that comes to his mind.

His flatmate gives him a weird look as he knows Ant isn't really a fan of those but doesn’t question it, simply paying for the drinks before heading to a table.  
…  
Robin makes the drinks as quickly as possible trying not to pay attention to the eyes he feels staring at the back of his head. As he does so he runs through all of the jobs that he did in the stock room, hoping that one of them hasn’t resulted in him getting food all over himself. After he makes the drinks he passes them over to JEV so he can hand them out, before rushing to the back of the shop again, planning to check in the bathroom mirror whether he’s spilled anything on himself. After finding that his uniform is perfectly clean, Robin resolves to interrogate Jean Eric about the two customers after they have left.

…  
JEV passes over the tea Alexander ordered to him and then gives the other drink to Ant. As the two continue their earlier conversation, Antonio can’t help but grin as he tries a sip of his beverage. Rather than the hot chocolate he ordered, instead he has been given a cortado, one of his favourite coffee drinks. Unfortunately the barista doesn’t come out from the back again while he’s there but he does join Alex and JEV’s chat in a cheerful mood before they have to leave. 

….

When Robin hears the front door chime, most likely indicating that the two men have left, he decides to brave going back out to the main area of the cafe. After peeking out the door to check they are definitely gone, Robin then tries to casually initiate a conversation with Jean-Eric.

“Hey, how do you know those guys anyway?” Robin asks.

“Do you mean the one I actually know, Alex? Or the other one, Ant, who I’m pretty sure you made the wrong drink for?” JEV replies with a knowing grin.

So, subtlety has clearly failed then, Robin thinks to himself.

“The other one,” he admits, “he must be used to getting the wrong thing,” Robin continues, slightly blushing now. “That’s the third time I’ve made a mistake. I have no idea why he keeps coming back.”

At that, JEV and Sam exchange amused glances, and Robin immediately wishes that he could have just kept his mouth shut. Before he can make a dismissive comment however, one of his coworkers decides to speak.

“Look once is an accident, twice is a mistake, three times is…” JEV trails off, not quite sure how to finish what he is trying to say.

“Three times is i really want to bone this guy and I’m acting like an idiotic wreck,” Sam chimes in helpfully and Jean-Eric chuckles, agreeing with that assessment.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not an actual saying,” Robin grumbles at them halfheartedly, knowing that by this point it would be pointless to deny being attracted to the guy. 

“It could be worse,” JEV chips in and Robin flashes a glare in his direction before questioning how it could possibly be worse.

“The guy keeps being an idiot by letting you make him the wrong drinks continually without saying anything about it. He clearly wants to bone you too,” JEV says with a grin before getting a high five from Sam for using the word ‘bone’. 

“I’m definitely owed some holiday time,” Robin mutters before deciding to leave early for the day. 

When he throws down his apron and walks out the door, Robin hears the laughter of his colleagues follow him all the way home.

…

Antonio isn’t someone who normally feels nervous but as he walks to the coffee shop, a slip of paper in hand, he can’t help but be at least a little worried. As he walks in the door, he sees that the cafe is reasonably quiet. Even still, it feels like everyone is looking at him as he makes his way in. He doesn’t normally come in on a Monday, so he finds that there’s only two staff members in, and thankfully one of them is Robin. Ant repeats again and again what he is planning to say in his head but by the time he reaches the counter, he finds that is has completely emptied itself from his mind. 

“What can I get for you?” Robin asks him and at that point even if he could have remembered the plan, it would have been completely out the window anyway.

Robin has never actually been the one doing the serving before when Ant has been in. Up close, Antonio gets a newfound appreciation for the other man’s cute accent and the unique colour of his eyes.

“Erm,” he starts not sure how to begin.

After a few moments, however, it looks like Robin is about to start speaking again. Panicked, Antonio decides he has to speak first, before he completely bails out.

“I was hoping I could get something for you,” he says, “there’s my number,” he continues, passing the slip of paper to Robin, “and hopefully I can get you some drink or food for a change?”

At first, Robin doesn’t respond and Ant begins to worry that he shouldn’t have said anything. Before he does that however, he looks over and realises that Robin is simply grabbing a takeaway cup and a pen with a bright smile on his face. The Dutchman scribbles his own number onto the cup before passing it to Antonio. 

Antonio can’t help but make sure their fingers brush a little as the item is passed and both find their breath catches when they touch. 

“That sounds good,” Robin responds finally, a touch breathless, “I’ll text you after work?”

The other man agrees quickly, leaving them to simply say some awkward goodbyes before Antonio has to walk out the door. 

As Ant heads back home, coffee cup held tightly in his grasp, he can’t help but think that this is the best order that he’s ever made. Robin on the other hand, isn't looking forward to telling his coworkers what happened the next day, luckily however, he has a feeling that a date with Ant is going to be more than worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for having THAT many words and not even a single kiss- I'm a sinner.


End file.
